Cool Card Design of the Day6/10/2015 - I think there's a small but useful vein of design space in Illusory Angel's "only if you've cast another spell this turn" mechanic, and I think red is the place to use it (because red is where lots-of-cheap-spells and storm intersect).
We can also offer more powerful effects by specifying 'red spell' (ala Talara's Battalion) or even 'goblin spell' but that sounds awfully limiting, even parasitic.
Developmental complaints aside, I agree. This fell into the "Oh here is something cool we haven't done before so we'll put it in Blue" trap, and it is definitely not too late to rescue it.
ReplyDeleteDoes the ability feel realy red? I like your explenation. Because to me, it looks like an awful lot of planning, wich is not supposed to be red. On the other side, it could lead to explosive turns. Feels a bit red. Personly I think, depended on the desing, it can feel red or blue.
DeleteMaybe "You may cast Goblin Huntsman for {R}{R} if you've cast another spell this turn."
ReplyDeleteWould 1R be unreasonable? You're still essentially getting a 4 CMC 3/3 (baring any 0 mana cards being in standard/limited) and it allows two color aggro decks to have an easier time casting it.
DeleteI dunno. Sounds okay to me.
DeleteWould this be something warranting a keyword ala domain or ferocious?
ReplyDeleteI think it would take a lot of backflips to enable this at the frequency an ability word (that's what domain/ferocious type things are called) would require.
DeleteMaybe in exactly the right environment?
I think this mechanic has a lot of design space. Patrician's Scorn is another example of how it could be used. And I included the color-specifying version as a named mechanic in my "Rebirth" cardset. I'm not especially worried about it warping the game-- there are plenty of times already where you want to cast two spells in the same turn.
DeleteFor what it's worth, this is also a mechanic in Hearthstone (which I recently started playing).